auszahlen vs zahlen

zahlen = to pay.(commonly used, can often used interchangeably, for example:

Jemandem seinen Lohn zahlen

or

Jemandem seinen Lohn` auszahlen

but the latter is more correct

auszahlen =

1. pay someone who you still loan money( for his work, service, goods etc)
2. I withdraw money= Ich lasse mir Geld auszahlen ( from the bank, fonds or anything like that... https://context.reverso.net/%C3%BCbersetzung/deutsch-englisch/Ich+lasse+mich+auszahlen)

Auszahlen (DWDS) refers to something like wage/salary/heritage.

Zahlen (DWDS) on the other hand is just the generic word to change a service/object for money/instrument of payment.

From the juristical point of view in any case with a payment there is some kind of debt/obligation/trade involved. You go shopping and you have to pay - zahlen - for the groceries you get.

A bit more interchangeably with "auszahlen" is bezahlen(DWDS). That verb is used to say you pay for xy. That means, while you can pay the wage = "den Lohn auszahlen" as well as you can pay your workers = "die Angestellten bezahlen".

Examples with auszahlen where zahlen would be strange:

• Das Erbe auszahlen.
• Die Dividende auszahlen.

Examples with zahlen where auszahlen would be strange:

• Ich zahle meine Schulden. (bezahlen would fit as well)
• Ich zahle meinen Einkauf. (bezahlen would be better)

In your example both are really interchangeable. But usually they mean totally different things.

Zahlen is used to express that you give money for something you get:

You pay for some goods, you pay for services, you pay for going to cinema...

Auszahlen means that you get money because you have a right to get that money. On the other side you can be the one who gives the money to someone who e.g. earned it. It is most commonly used in combination with salaries, but it can also be used when you e.g. paid for something for your company and then get the money back.

Examples:

• You get a credit and go to the pay desk to get the money.

• You have invited a customer for a lunch and go to your administration and they give you the money back.

• Or classically: At the end of the month you go to the pay office to get your pay check.

• The cashier who gives the money to

German:

Lassen Sie Sich das Geld an der Kasse auszahlen...
Ich zahle Ihnen das Geld an der Kasse aus
Das Gehalt wird am Ende des Monats ausgezahlt